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Carroll County approves MidAmerican Energy fiber permit and purchases two Mack snowplow chassis; road milling slated for April
Summary
The board approved a utility permit allowing MidAmerican Energy to install fiber in county secondary road right-of-way, approved purchase of two Mack truck chassis at $154,320 each for snowplow use, and heard that asphalt milling for several road segments is planned to begin April 7, weather permitting.
The Carroll County Board of Supervisors approved a MidAmerican Energy utility permit to install fiber in sections of the county secondary road right-of-way and approved the purchase of two Mack snowplow chassis at $154,320 each, for a total chassis cost of $308,640. The board also heard from secondary roads staff that contractor milling for several asphalt projects is tentatively scheduled to begin April 7, with an estimated 4–6 week window dependent on weather.
Olson, speaking on behalf of MidAmerican Energy, said the utility is installing fiber "for their own communication purposes." County secondary roads staff described several stretches of the proposed route, including a section paralleling Highway 30 south of Arcadia and another running east of Templeton toward a substation near Highway 71.
Secondary Roads staff said the permit is routine and noted contractors typically perform the installation; the county will seek to keep installations toward the back of the right-of-way or ditch bottoms where appropriate to avoid conflicts with other utilities. "Don't see any issues with what they're trying to accomplish," the staff member said after a routes review.
On fleet purchases, county staff recommended two Mack chassis to standardize parts and maintenance across the fleet; staff said about 14–15 trucks are currently in the fleet with roughly 10 in regular snowplow rotation and that eight chassis would be the same model to improve parts interchangeability. The board was told the chassis price is roughly $22,000 higher than three years ago and that additional outfitting (box, sander, plow and hydraulics) will add substantially to the final per-truck cost.
Secondary Roads staff estimated a delivery window as early as July or as late as September, and said the county's goal is to have the equipment ready for the next winter season. Both the utility permit and the truck purchase motions carried by voice vote.
On county construction work, staff reported a pre-construction meeting for asphalt projects and said milling would begin the week of April 7, with work expected to proceed section by section. Traffic will remain open with flagging in place during operations.
